Conditions: Very good conditions for skate and classic.
The classic track was hard and icy so double poling was easy - blazin' fast. The warmer klister I had on from the weekend didn't work real well and a fair amount of it wore off. Could use some blue klister or other ice klister or double pole. The skate lane looked nice with a few minor ruts in spots from skiers earlier this morning before the temps dropped below freezing.

(Mark Lahtinen)

The classic and skating were great this morning on snowmaking loop. Freshly groomed overnight and firmed nicely in 23 degree temps. Classic tracks perfect and the corduroy for skating seemed ideal. Still plenty of snow on man-made 2.5k loop.

(John Crellin)

Conditions: Firm, smooth corduroy and classic track - except for a 200ft swath that had been tilled during my ski (which was like quicksand).
Skied around 9 am. So nice to finally ski on fast, firm snow. Not my favorite place to ski, but when conditions are quick the laps go by fast. Plenty of snow still, no worries about warm weather. Trail was as well groomed and perfect as one would expect with PistenBully machinery and man-made snow. Only issue was when they moved machine from tubing hill back to machine shed and retilled a section -- that snow was super soft, had to ski around it. Nice morning ski, even got to see the sun!

(Bruce Adelsman)

Conditions: Good, but with a hint of softness even early in the morning.
Skied at 515 am with a temp of 26F. Skate deck groomed well (nice job, Elm groomers!). A bit firmer in the windblown areas. In the hour that I skied, snow started to soften a bit. Classic track firm and in good shape.

(Pat van der Voorn)

Conditions: Valley is in pretty good shape. Very fast for skating. It was starting to freeze which made it a little bumpy but still plenty of edge.
My fastest laps of the year! Downhill turn on the donut was very fast and a little dicey in spots.

(Brad Johnson)

Conditions: Valley is firm for skating, plenty of edge. Tracks looked good too. NL still has good coverage but a fair amount of debris in area with over-hanging trees. Lake and Creek have decent coverage (but more thin spots) and debris similar to NL. I also had to carry skis over bridge and again at bottom of steep hill North or swim pond.
No Pole-Pedal-Pant again this year, so I did my own today at EC. 14 miles on the mountain bike trails, 16k on the skis, and a 3 mile run. Not an epic performance, but I'm pretty sure I did get first place. :-D It's a great day with good conditions, get out and enjoy it while the weather allows!

(Brad Johnson)

Conditions: Hard and fast on the Valley Trail.
Skied the manmade loop this evening. Conditions were fairly hard, but not icy. The uphills were in great condition and everything was fast and fun. I wish I could say I ventured onto the Northern Lights trail, but I'm a creature of habit (aka a hamster).

(Adrian Swanson)

Conditions: Mixed bag, but overall, decent!
Skated almost entire system at 11 AM. No grooming on multi-use, but the light fluff over the pack seemed faster than the rolled trails, which were getting a little warm and sticky--thin/icy by the open prairie near Nature Center, though. Heard a rumor Eagle was rolled but not tracked, so went and took a look--tracker had just been through and tracks looked in great shape; not much track elsewhere aside form man-made. Cowabunga was amazingly good both up and down (but not recommended for beginners, given the usual slight washboard with thin snow). Not too much debris, overall. Try to enjoy it before the warm temps kill it (again...).

(Andrea Ochmann)

Conditions: Valley and Northern lights excellent conditions.
Valley loop: in great shape as usual with this weather. Northern lights: Skating was great! While I was out after the quick inch we recieved they groomed the whole loop. They did not set tracks while I was there. With the fresh snow and grooming, ice wasn't an issue. You could tell at the very end where it connects back to the valley trail that there was ice below but got an edge just fine. Outer loop: Saw the groomer go off the valley towards the outer loop, but alas didn't have a headlamp to explore. The crew out there does such a great job on the trails. Kudos to them.

Photos:

(Josh Bydlon)

Conditions: Afternoon ski found man-made loop excellent skate and classic, Northern Lights loop acceptable but not as "perfect".
Skiing on the man-made loop with it's ultimate groomability makes one expect perfection. And they deliver at Elm Creek for Valley loop. The Northern Lights snow cover is adequate but there are a few icy patches to avoid. Very skiable though. The bridge to outer loops looked pretty melted off so not easy to get out there to explore.

(Dean Kleinhans)